# 2023–24 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented Loyola University Chicago during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ramblers, led by third-year head coach Drew Valentine, played their home games at the Joseph J. Gentile Arena in Chicago, Illinois as second-year members of the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10). They finished the season 23–10, 15–3 in A-10 play to finish in a tie for the regular season championship. As the No. 2 seed in the A-10 tournament, they lost to St. Bonaventure in the quarterfinals. They received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost to Bradley in the first round.

## Previous season

The Ramblers finished 2022–23 season 10–21, 4–14 in A-10 play, to finish in last place. They lost to Saint Joseph's in the first round of the A-10 tournament.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Saint Thomas | 0 | F | 6'7" | 215 | Sophomore | Omaha, NE | Transferred to Northern Colorado |
| Marquise Kennedy | 12 | G | 6'1" | 190 | Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduate transferred to UIC |
| Jacob Hutson | 22 | C | 6'11" | 250 | Junior | Edina, MN | Transferred to Northern Iowa |
| Jeameril Wilson | 25 | F | 6'7" | 200 | GS Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| Nolan Marold | 32 | F | 6'8" | 230 | Freshman | Highlands Ranch, CO | Walk-on; transferred to Saint Michael's |
| Bryce Golden | 35 | C | 6'9" | 245 | GS Senior | Richmond, VA | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Desmond Watson | 0 | G/F | 6'5" | 205 | Junior | Columbus, OH | Davidson |
| Greg Dolan | 12 | G | 6'3" | 188 | GS Senior | Williamsville, NY | Cornell |
| Patrick Mwamba | 30 | F | 6'7" | 206 | GS Senior | Kinshasa, Congo | Oral Roberts |
| Dame Adelekun | 32 | F | 6'8" | 220 | GS Senior | Gastonia, NC | Dartmouth |

### 2023 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Miles Rubin #47 PF | Chicago, IL | Simeon Career Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Jun 20, 2021 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 77 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2023 Loyola Ramblers Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 1, 2023. "2023 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 1, 2023. ||||||

### 2024 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2024) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jack Turner SG | Bellflower, CA | St. John Bosco High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Oct 25, 2022 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Brayden Young C | Houston, TX | Cy Falls High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Oct 19, 2023 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2024 Loyola Ramblers Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 1, 2023. "2024 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 1, 2023. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 29, 2023* 3:30 p.m. | | Trinity Christian | W 104–44 | | 17 – Alston | 8 – Adelekun | 9 – Norris | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (2,169) Chicago, IL |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 8, 2023* 6:00 p.m., Barstool.tv | | vs. No. 10 Florida Atlantic Barstool Sports Invitational | L 62–75 | 0–1 | 15 – Alston | 6 – Alston | 3 – tied | Wintrust Arena (2,169) Chicago, IL |
| November 11, 2023* 7:00 p.m., NBCSCHI+/ESPN+ | | Eastern Illinois | W 89–65 | 1–1 | 24 – Watson | 7 – Rubin | 7 – Norris | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (3,311) Chicago, IL |
| November 14, 2023* 7:00 p.m., NBCSCHI/ESPN+ | | UIC | L 67–72 | 1–2 | 13 – Watson | 7 – Norris | 5 – Norris | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (2,659) Chicago, IL |
| November 18, 2023* 3:00 p.m., NBCSCHI+/ESPN+ | | New Orleans | W 73–70 | 2–2 | 22 – Adelekun | 11 – Adelekun | 7 – Dolan | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (2,833) Chicago, IL |
| November 22, 2023* 3:00 p.m., CBSSN | | vs. No. 8 Creighton Hall of Fame Classic semifinals | L 65–88 | 2–3 | 15 – Watson | 7 – Rubin | 5 – Norris | T-Mobile Center Kansas City, MO |
| November 23, 2023* 12:30 p.m., CBSSN | | vs. Boston College Hall of Fame Classic consolation game | W 71–68 | 3–3 | 20 – Norris | 7 – Norris | 5 – Dolan | T-Mobile Center Kansas City, MO |
| November 28, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Chicago State | W 62–53 | 4–3 | 15 – Quinn | 5 – Watson | 6 – Norris | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (2,003) Chicago, IL |
| December 2, 2023* 3:00 p.m., NBCSCHI+/ESPN+ | | Harvard | W 75–53 | 5–3 | 16 – Alston | 9 – Rubin | 7 – Dolan | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (3,754) Chicago, IL |
| December 5, 2023* 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Tulsa | L 77–88 | 5–4 | 26 – Dawson | 7 – Dawson | 7 – Norris | Reynolds Center (2,822) Tulsa, OK |
| December 9, 2023* 5:00 p.m., NBCSCHI+/ESPN+ | | Goshen | W 115–64 | 6–4 | 25 – Alston | 7 – Adelekun | 6 – Norris | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (2,286) Chicago, IL |
| December 17, 2023* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at South Florida | L 64–77 | 6–5 | 27 – Alston | 6 – Norris | 7 – Norris | Yuengling Center Tampa, FL |
| December 19, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Charleston Southern | W 72–59 | 7–5 | 12 – tied | 7 – Rubin | 3 – tied | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (2,004) Chicago, IL |
| December 30, 2023* 1:00 p.m., NBCSCHI/ESPN+ | | Central Michigan | W 73–35 | 8–5 | 15 – Alston | 9 – Rubin | 6 – Norris | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (2,377) Chicago, IL |
| Atlantic 10 regular season |||||||||
| January 3, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Saint Louis | W 80–73 | 9–5 (1–0) | 24 – Watson | 6 – tied | 7 – Norris | Chaifetz Arena (7,068) St. Louis, MO |
| January 6, 2024 3:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Duquesne | W 72–67 | 10–5 (2–0) | 17 – Alston | 7 – Dawson | 5 – Dawson | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (2,671) Chicago, IL |
| January 9, 2024 7:00 p.m., NBCSCHI/ESPN+ | | Richmond | L 56–58 | 10–6 (2–1) | 16 – Dawson | 8 – Dawson | 5 – Quinn | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (1,834) Chicago, IL |
| January 13, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Saint Joseph's | W 78–75 | 11–6 (3–1) | 20 – Dawson | 7 – tied | 4 – Watson | Hagan Arena (2,142) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 17, 2024 6:00 p.m., CBSSN | | UMass | W 79–78 | 12–6 (4–1) | 23 – Alston | 9 – Watson | 6 – Norris | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (2,748) Chicago, IL |
| January 20, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Fordham | W 65–61 | 13–6 (5–1) | 19 – Watson | 5 – Dolan | 3 – tied | Rose Hill Gymnasium (1,756) The Bronx, NY |
| January 23, 2024 6:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at VCU | L 67–74 | 13–7 (5–2) | 14 – Adelekun | 10 – Rubin | 4 – Norris | Siegel Center (7,204) Richmond, VA |
| January 30, 2024 7:00 p.m., NBCSCHI+/ESPN+ | | Saint Louis | W 77–62 | 14–7 (6–2) | 20 – Watson | 7 – Rubin | 3 – Watson | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (3,488) Chicago, IL |
| February 4, 2024 12:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Davidson | W 76–63 | 15–7 (7–2) | 18 – Watson | 9 – Adelekun | 6 – Watson | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (4,253) Chicago, IL |
| February 7, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at George Mason | W 85–79 | 16–7 (8–2) | 27 – Edwards | 5 – Adelekun | 3 – tied | EagleBank Arena (2,645) Fairfax, VA |
| February 10, 2024 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | | at George Washington | W 81–73 | 17–7 (9–2) | 18 – Edwards | 8 – Alston | 4 – tied | Charles E. Smith Center (2,520) Washington, D.C. |
| February 14, 2024 7:00 p.m., NBCSCHI+/ESPN+ | | Saint Joseph's | W 64–59 | 18–7 (10–2) | 14 – Alston | 8 – tied | 7 – Norris | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (2,794) Chicago, IL |
| February 18, 2024 11:00 a.m., CBSSN | | at Rhode Island | W 77–67 | 19–7 (11–2) | 21 – tied | 10 – Alston | 8 – Norris | Ryan Center (5,407) Kingston, RI |
| February 24, 2024 3:30 p.m., USA | | George Mason | W 80–59 | 20–7 (12–2) | 10 – tied | 7 – Watson | 8 – Norris | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (4,557) Chicago, IL |
| February 27, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at St. Bonaventure | L 64–79 | 20–8 (12–3) | 12 – Alston | 9 – Watson | 7 – Norris | Reilly Center (3,855) Olean, NY |
| March 1, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | No. 21 Dayton | W 77–72 | 21–8 (13–3) | 24 – Watson | 7 – Alston | 11 – Norris | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (4,557) Chicago, IL |
| March 6, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Davidson | W 69–59 | 22–8 (14–3) | 13 – tied | 9 – Rubin | 5 – Watson | John M. Belk Arena (2,856) Davidson, NC |
| March 9, 2024 3:00 p.m., NBCSCHI+/ESPN+ | | La Salle | W 64–54 | 23–8 (15–3) | 12 – Adelekun | 10 – Adelekun | 3 – tied | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (4,557) Chicago, IL |
| A-10 tournament |||||||||
| March 14, 2024 5:00 p.m., USA | (2) | vs. (7) St. Bonaventure Quarterfinals | L 74–75 $^{2OT}$ | 23–9 | 22 – Alston | 8 – tied | 6 – Watson | Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY |
| NIT |||||||||
| March 20, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at (3) Bradley First Round – Indiana State Bracket | L 62–74 | 23–10 | 17 – Norris | 7 – tied | 2 – tied | Carver Arena (4,691) Peoria, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||
Source: